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Issue 57: Contemporary Interdisciplinary Discussions on Colonial Persistence and Decoloniality in Latin America (October-December, 2024) 

Interdisciplinary Discussions on Colonial Persistence, Decolonization, and Socio-Anthropological and Political Dynamics in Latin America

Odín Ávila Rojas
Universidad Santiago de Cali, Colombia

Fernando Matamoros Ponce
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico

Manuel Alfonso Melgarejo Pérez
Museo Regional de Puebla - Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), México

https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda57.2024.01

Abstract: A central debate in contemporary Latin American social sciences revolves around the enduring presence of colonial patterns, practices, and forms of domination in research methodologies and the subjective framing of societal issues. However, decolonizing initiatives are emerging, concurrently, to challenge the ways coloniality has been entwined with the expansion of capital in the 21st century. This introductory article explores the key debates surrounding colonial persistence and decolonization within the social sciences. The dossier employs a methodology centered on documentary analysis and participatory social and political reflection, particularly through experimental approaches. The articles reviewed reveal that colonial persistence and decolonization are inherently dialectical, contradictory, and conflict-ridden, manifesting across diverse social, cultural, economic, and political domains. The uniqueness of this thematic issue lies in its ability to weave together a theoretical and conceptual discourse on symbolic and imaginary aspects within culture, spanning anthropological, legal, and educational dimensions. The analysis underscores that these issues are pluralistic and deeply intertwined with struggles over land and natural resources, enriching interdisciplinary understanding of the complex dialectical relationships between social, anthropological, economic, and political factors, alongside the aesthetics of cultural practices.  

Keywords: Colonialism, culture, decolonization, memory, social sciences, State.

Border Identities: Interstices and Pluralities in the Identity Construction of the Ethnic Communes of Manglaralto, Ecuador

Marie-Therese Lager
Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (Espol), Ecuador

https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda57.2024.02

Abstract: This article demonstrates that the social categories of indigenous and white-mestizo are essentialist, reductionist, and therefore insufficient to encompass the diverse expressions of identity that exist. Understood through fluid and interchangeable lines, a new category is proposed: the border identity. Exemplified through the ethnic communes of the parish of Manglaralto, in the province of Santa Elena, Ecuador, this new category is intended to reconcile opposites and dismantle existing binaries to better capture the multifaceted social diversity of different sociocultural expressions. Previously agricultural, these communes have been transformed into internationally known tourist destinations, while being denied recognition of their ethnic identity due to the acculturations they have been subject to through various historical periods. Their members are labeled as acculturated indigenous or cholos, too mestizo to be considered indigenous and too indigenous to be considered mestizo. Qualitative methods such as participant observations, informal conversations, and semi-structured interviews were used for the ethnographic work spanning more than four years. The data collected and analyzed data showed how these communities, through constant negotiation with the white-mestizo world, achieve autonomy even within deeply dependent relationships. The study illustrates how they operate from an interstice, an intermediate space, which complicates their placement within existing social categories, underscoring the need to conceptualize new social categories beyond traditional binaries.

Keywords: Ecuadorian coast, essentialism, ethnic communities, ethnography, identities, interstices.

Neoliberal State of Exception and Resistance in Southeastern Mexico

Agustín R. Vázquez García
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, unidad Xochimilco, Mexico

Aline Zárate Santiago
Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, unidad 098, México City

https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda57.2024.03

Abstract: In November 2021, the President of Mexico (2018-2024) declared that the priority megaprojects of the National Development Plan (Maya Train, Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor, Dos Bocas Refinery) fall within the realm of national security. Public and private investments in these projects are directed towards southeastern Mexico, covering the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Yucatán, and Tabasco. These regions are home to indigenous peoples and communities that hold 45% of Mexico’s total social property. In some cases, these communities are visibly linked to national political organizations that defend land and territory. The decree is considered a state of exception applied to land-territory use, with dual implications. On one hand, it represents the undivided social field monopolized by monetary metrics. On the other hand, it signifies the expansion of a neocolonial condition promoted by the Mexican federal government, which marginalizes the voice of resistance in favor of adopting the capital logic defined by the stratification of the global economy. The methodology involves participatory action research since 2019, collaborative research through the coordination of workshops, caravans, marches, and political-community meetings, promoted in conjunction with assemblies fighting for territorial defense. We anticipate the increased use of such state of exception in response to the intertwined rise of health, environmental, and economic contingencies that drive the economic cycle, coupled with ineffective governmental policies formulated for regular times. In other words, the state of exception is activated to ensure the continuity of capital accumulation driven by the concentration of private property.

Keywords: Capitalism, state of exception, Mexico, neoliberalism, resistance.

Discourses on Decolonization and Social Conflict: The Case of the VIII Indigenous March in Bolivia (2011)

Gabriel Alejandro Rodríguez García
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico

https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda57.2024.04

Abstract: This article examines how the narrative of the plurinational state provided the common symbolic framework for the conflict over the Isiboro Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park (Tipnis) in Bolivia in 2011. The central dispute, one of the most important in Bolivia’s recent history, was whether or not to construct a highway through this area, a debate that has led to a major rift between peasant and indigenous social organizations that shared common reivindicative imaginaries but ultimately experienced profound divisions. This discussion serves as a key observation point to understand how decolonization imaginaries actually function, which I consider a anchoring point (point du capiton) in the narrative of the plurinational state. Through discourse analysis, review of chronicles, press statements, and accounts of the VIII Indigenous March, I aim to identify the discursive threads that framed the debates on decolonization, showing that it can be used as a rhetorical tool to mask extractivism or defend “national sovereignty,” or as an argument to uphold the self-determination of indigenous peoples. I also examine how the repertoire of the indigenous march was constructed discursively and symbolically, and the impact it left on Bolivia’s recent history. I intend for this analysis to contribute to understanding how Bolivian social perceptions are shaped in relation to the narrative of the plurinational state and its potential for social transformation as a new regime of truth.

Keywords: Anchoring point, decolonization, discursive thread, narrative of the plurinational State, process of change, repertoire of collective action.

Truth Commissions and Colonial Legacies: Lessons from Colombia (2018-2022)

Claire Wright
Ulster University, Northern Ireland

Bill Rolston
Ulster University, Northern Ireland

Fionnuala Ní Aoláin
Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland ‒ University of Minnesota Law School, United States

https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda57.2024.05

Abstract: With its signing of the Havana Peace Agreement in 2016, Colombia sought to end an armed conflict that had lasted more than sixty years and had left nearly nine million victims. The agreement led to the establishment of a transitional justice (TJ) framework, including the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition (CEV). This study identifies how the CEV incorporated the legacies of colonialism into its analytical framework. The research is based on in-depth interviews with twenty scholars specializing in colonialism and/or TJ, nineteen peacebuilders, informal conversations with CEV members, and a review of various volumes of the final report. The findings highlight that the commission adopted a long-term historical perspective, revisiting aspects of Spanish colonialism (including structural racism and the hacienda system as an institution of territorial, political, and economic order) as explanatory factors for the various forms of violence experienced during the armed conflict. Additionally, several volumes of the final report emphasize the ongoing impact of colonial legacies, viewing them more as continuities or “ruins,” using Stoler’s concept (2008). While the possibility of dismantling colonial legacies on a material level due to the CEV’s work is debated, its symbolic significance must be highlighted, especially in a context where the State had sought to erase the colonial past. This article contributes to the emerging literature that examines TJ from a decolonial perspective, providing an empirical analysis of the CEV in Colombia, which we believe can become a key reference for this field.

Keywords: Colombia, colonialism, Truth Commission, conflict, transitional justice, ethnic peoples.

“Lead for Speaking, Silver to Speak”: Ethnic Diversity and Education in Southwestern Colombia

Jose Luis Revelo Calvache
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Medellín

https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda57.2024.06

Abstract: How do the relationships between the concept of being indigenous and the processes of ethnoeducation manifest in southwestern Colombia? This ethnographic study explores the complexities of constructing ethnic identity among the indigenous peoples of Nariño, focusing on the implementation of educational programs driven by a population perspective. By questioning the foundations of ethnoeducation from the late 20th century to the early 21st century, we establish a dialogue among various institutional agents within the broader framework of ethnic-based social organization. We also examine the historical relationships, institutional archaisms, and contemporary challenges faced by ethnic educational processes in Nariño. We conclude with insights into the construction of ethnic identity and its implications for the social order governing the interactions between community members and government representatives. We conceptualize the relationship between the State, school, and ethnic identity as a fundamental part of Colombia’s modern project, which has been in development since the republican era. The institutional framework has fluctuated between protectionist, paternalistic, and cultural assimilation policies. However, the current threats to the physical and cultural survival of ancestral peoples must be addressed through the State’s institutional mechanisms and governance technologies. These mechanisms are designed to tackle the challenges of interculturality within a complex and often contradictory framework of relationships.

Keywords: Ethnoeducation, ethnic identity, indigenous peoples, interculturality, Nariño, State.

The Papantla Flyers: Colonial Legacies and Community Resistance in Two Mexican Practices

José Javier Contreras Vizcaino
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, unidad Xochimilco, Mexico

Gastón Ramírez Herrera
Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico

https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda57.2024.07

Abstract: The ritual ceremony of the Papantla flyers is a pre-Hispanic cultural practice performed since 600 B. C. by various indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America. This intricate ceremony comprises multiple stages, with the most notable being “the flight,” where a group of five individuals ascend a tall mast, known as the flying pole, to perform songs and dances from the top. Tied by their feet with ropes, the flyers then descend in concentric circles until they reach the ground. This article focuses on two contemporary practices in Mexico: one at the Xcaret Tourist Park in Quintana Roo, and the other in the municipality of Papantla, Veracruz. The aim is to compare these practices to highlight the tensions between colonial legacies and community resistance. Using the method of montage, we analyze two dialectical images across different dimensions: spaces, times, technical-material contents, participating social subjects, and the objectivity of the practice itself. The results reveal the tension between the colonial persistence of capitalist modernity—manifested in the commodification and patrimonialization of the practice—and community resistance, demonstrated through the revival of memories and traditions. While this research focuses on two specific practices, the methodological and analytical approach can be applied to other activities within the ritual flyers ceremony, or to other cultural practices recognized as intangible cultural heritage. This study contributes to the field of critical heritage studies.

Keywords: Colonialism, critical theory, indigenous resistance, intangible cultural heritage, Papantla flyers, ritual ceremony of the flyers.